Resumé

This paper discusses how front-line employees can play an important role in innovation processes that lead tourism companies from service production to experience creation. The increasing focus on experiential value by customers in general (Sundbo and Sørensen, 2013) puts pressure on service companies to move from functional service production to creating experiences (Pine and Gilmore, 2013). This is also the case in tourism companies. In tourism, most encounters between employees and tourists operate on a service logic (Sørensen and Jensen, 2015). Thus, we suggest there is a value potential in developing such encounters into experience encounters focusing on the co-creation of experiential value. While frontline employees are central for service quality they are mostly not included in systematised innovation processes in tourism companies. These companies are often hierarchically organised and typically do not consider front-line employees to be important innovation agents (Sørensen and Jensen, 2012). However, in this paper, an analysis of an experiment in Tivoli Gardens exemplifies the innovation and value creating potential of involving front-line employees in developing new practices that create experiential value in employee-tourist encounters.

Konference

Konference

5th Interdisciplinary Tourism Research Conference

Nummer

5

Land

Spanien

By

Cartagena

Periode

06/06/2017 → 11/06/2017

Andet

This conference aims particularly to emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of tourism, hospitality and leisure research and attracts submissions in two categories: First, it encourages those faculty members and/or graduate students studying in other fields/disciplines, but have research interests on tourism, hospitality and leisure.

title = "Experience Innovation in Tourism: The Role of Front-line Employees",

abstract = "This paper discusses how front-line employees can play an important role in innovation processes that lead tourism companies from service production to experience creation. The increasing focus on experiential value by customers in general (Sundbo and S{\o}rensen, 2013) puts pressure on service companies to move from functional service production to creating experiences (Pine and Gilmore, 2013). This is also the case in tourism companies. In tourism, most encounters between employees and tourists operate on a service logic (S{\o}rensen and Jensen, 2015). Thus, we suggest there is a value potential in developing such encounters into experience encounters focusing on the co-creation of experiential value. While frontline employees are central for service quality they are mostly not included in systematised innovation processes in tourism companies. These companies are often hierarchically organised and typically do not consider front-line employees to be important innovation agents (S{\o}rensen and Jensen, 2012). However, in this paper, an analysis of an experiment in Tivoli Gardens exemplifies the innovation and value creating potential of involving front-line employees in developing new practices that create experiential value in employee-tourist encounters.",

N2 - This paper discusses how front-line employees can play an important role in innovation processes that lead tourism companies from service production to experience creation. The increasing focus on experiential value by customers in general (Sundbo and Sørensen, 2013) puts pressure on service companies to move from functional service production to creating experiences (Pine and Gilmore, 2013). This is also the case in tourism companies. In tourism, most encounters between employees and tourists operate on a service logic (Sørensen and Jensen, 2015). Thus, we suggest there is a value potential in developing such encounters into experience encounters focusing on the co-creation of experiential value. While frontline employees are central for service quality they are mostly not included in systematised innovation processes in tourism companies. These companies are often hierarchically organised and typically do not consider front-line employees to be important innovation agents (Sørensen and Jensen, 2012). However, in this paper, an analysis of an experiment in Tivoli Gardens exemplifies the innovation and value creating potential of involving front-line employees in developing new practices that create experiential value in employee-tourist encounters.

AB - This paper discusses how front-line employees can play an important role in innovation processes that lead tourism companies from service production to experience creation. The increasing focus on experiential value by customers in general (Sundbo and Sørensen, 2013) puts pressure on service companies to move from functional service production to creating experiences (Pine and Gilmore, 2013). This is also the case in tourism companies. In tourism, most encounters between employees and tourists operate on a service logic (Sørensen and Jensen, 2015). Thus, we suggest there is a value potential in developing such encounters into experience encounters focusing on the co-creation of experiential value. While frontline employees are central for service quality they are mostly not included in systematised innovation processes in tourism companies. These companies are often hierarchically organised and typically do not consider front-line employees to be important innovation agents (Sørensen and Jensen, 2012). However, in this paper, an analysis of an experiment in Tivoli Gardens exemplifies the innovation and value creating potential of involving front-line employees in developing new practices that create experiential value in employee-tourist encounters.